Expression of interleukin-7 mRNA and identification of its splice variant in human hepatic cancer / 中国病理生理杂志

ABSTRACT

AIM: To investigate the expression of interleukin-7(IL-7) in human liver cancer and identify the splice variant of IL-7. METHODS: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used for investigating the expression of IL-7. According to IL-7 gene cDNA, the primers were designed and synthesized, then the splice variant of IL-7 in human liver cancer cells was identified, cloned into vector and sequenced. RESULTS: The expression of IL-7 mRNA was equal between normal liver tissue and hepatic cancer cells.A new band of IL-7 was obtained from hepatic cancer cells, which lacks exon 4. CONCLUSION: IL-7 gene is expressed highly in both normal liver tissue and hepatic cancer cells. In addition, hepatic cancer cells can produce splicing variant by alternative splicing.